Signage

Campus Banners

Duke has a beautiful campus and encourages the use of banners that make a positive contribution to the environment and convey a sense of spirit, pride, and community.

General Policies

Banners can promote special events, mark university milestones, celebrate accomplishments, and highlight the “seasons” of the academic year.

Banners must be in good taste, clean, neat, have correct grammar, and contain no commercial content.

Groups displaying banners must be recognized campus organizations or departments.

Banners may be scheduled to hang for a period of two weeks unless otherwise permitted.

No banners may be attached to university buildings without permission from the Office of the Executive Vice President.

Banners for the Bryan Center and Campus Center Plaza must be approved by the Event Services team in UCAE.

The costs for design, production, and installation are the responsibility of the banner owners.

Campus Drive and Chapel Drive Banners

Banners may be hung from the light standards on Campus Drive (43) and Chapel Drive (12)

Banners for Campus and Chapel Drive are 2×6. Banner templates are in development. Please contact the Office of Communications for further information.

Approval Process

The proposed locations and timing for a set of banners must be approved by the Executive Vice President.

The Vice President for Public Affairs and Government Relations must approve banner designs.

Please check with the Facilities Office as early as possible to ensure banner space is available.

Please submit banner designs, locations, and final timing to the Office of Communications at least 15 days before the desired installation date. Please allow 5 days for review.

Banner Production and Installation

Banners may be printed by Facilities Management or an approved vendor.

All banners must be printed on a 2×6 Vinyl banner with embedded castor. All banners are double-sided.

Facilities Management will handle the printing and installation of banners and they must be contacted at least 10 business days in advance of the printing and hanging date.

Banners will be removed at the end of the scheduled hanging period and should be picked up by the owners in a timely way.

Digital Signage

Duke’s Digital Signage program is a centrally managed/locally controlled electronic sign and interactive display platform powered by technology from Four Winds Interactive. Digital signage is a powerful way to communicate your message to many university locations. The service is offered at no charge and administered by the Office of Information Technology (OIT). For more information about the service, or would like to participate in the digital signage program, see the Duke Digital Signage section of the OIT Website.

Sharing Digital Flyers

Digital flyers can be requested to be added to other department signs by submitting flyers using DukeFlyer.

Content Guidelines for Digital Flyers

In an effort to maintain consistency in message and branding, we have established some basic content guidelines that should be met before displaying content. By following these simple guidelines, your message will look more professional and reach more people.

Branding

We strongly encourage the use of Duke logos and branding. These standards extend to the use of wordmarks, logos, signature colors, type fonts and other matters that affect Duke’s visual identity.

Simplicity

Overall, keep it simple. Too much text or too many images on a digital flyer will clutter your message and decrease readability. Try to use fewer than 30 words on any one flyer in order to make the greatest impact. Each flyer is only visible for 5-15 seconds so there’s no time to read much more than these 30 words.

Size

All flyers to be posted on digital signage must be sized at 1920 x 1080 pixels and the image resolution must be either 72 or 96 dpi.

Color

Consider the colors used in your flyer carefully and maintain consistency with the Duke color palette. Ensure strong contrast between your image background colors and the text colors so that your sign can be easily read when displayed. Be sure to test the colors on the screen output before committing to the final color scheme.

Text

The text on your digital flyer needs to be readable. Use large font sizes so your message can be read without the need to stand directly in front of the screen. Try at least 40 pt for headlines and at least 24 pt for the body text. Object Strokes Use bold lines when designing objects for digital signage. Lines that are too thin do not display well and may appear broken or look invisible.

Temporary Sign Standards

The following guidelines establish a consistent and clutter-free campus environment while allowing operations to continue as effectively and efficiently as possible.

For temporary signs proposed for an extended period of time to mitigate rerouting of pedestrian paths due to construction, Facilities Management must be provided with a plan showing proposed locations of signs, sign messages, and sample graphics for review and approval, prior to installation of signs.

Any non-compliant signs found on campus will be removed by Facilities Management Department (z). Periodic deviations from the standards are to be expected on occasion and may be approved beforehand for short-term use by Facilities Management.

Certain days or periods of time — such as Commencement, BOT weekends, etc.— may be dedicated as “non clutter times” when all but those signs deemed essential will be allowed. A calendar and detailed procedures will be created for regular times and all other dates and times.

Sign Type 30 – Temporary A-Frame Sign

To be used for promotion and wayfinding for special events and commercial or dining venues.

Each user group promoting events or actions (i.e. Parking and Transportation Services, Office of Student Affairs, including all student groups, Duke Camps, etc…) are permitted only 10 yard signs at any one time across campus.

Signs may not advertise events for longer than one week prior to event and must be removed immediately following the event.

Each user group promoting commercial ventures (i.e. Duke Stores and Duke Dining) are permitted only 10 signs at any one time across campus (10 per group and not 10 per venue).

Signs on lawns will be removed when the lawn is mowed regardless of how long it has been there.

The organization or persons sponsoring the activity on the sign must be identified.